The Intel unit includes employees involved in engineering, operations and marketing. Cortina said it has extended job offers to a significant number of these workers. Intel also received a minority equity stake in Cortina as part of the transaction.

The move falls in line with recent moves to make the company more agile, and to refocus its efforts on its core processor business.

In June, the company sold its communications and application processor business to Marvell for a purchase price of $600 million, and last week, the company let go of 10,000 of its employees, saving an estimated $200 million a year.